Syria: UN leaders renew plea

December 2013, Damascus, Syria: Fatema feeds her 18 month old daughter, Haneen. Fatema's family was displaced from their home in Douma in rural Damascus. The UN estimates that 9.3 million people have been affected by the conflict that has now entered its fourth year. Credit: WFP/Abeer Etefa

The leaders of five UN agencies have renewed their plea on behalf of millions of people caught in the chaos and violence of Syria’s bloody civil war.

“One year ago… we issued an urgent appeal. Enough, we said, enough!

“That appeal has gone largely unanswered. The war escalates in many areas. The humanitarian situation deteriorates day after day.”

“As the fighting has intensified in recent weeks, at least one million people are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in Aleppo alone. The road from Damascus to Aleppo has often been cut. [An estimated] 1.25 million people are in need of food in Aleppo city and rural parts of the governorate.”

More than 9.3 million people affected

The statement highlights the terrible impact of the conflict on vital infrastructure across the country. A third of Syria’s water treatment plants no longer function. Three out of five health centres have been destroyed.

“Across Syria, the lives of more than 9.3 million people are now affected in this, the fourth year of the conflict,” the statement says.